1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for making a cylindrical package for a steel strip coil in order to wrap the coil completely with a wrapping sheet material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cylindrically shaped coils of continuous steel strip are wrapped in a wrapping sheet material such as paper for protecting the surfaces, particularly the end surfaces, of the coil. In wrapping the peripheral surface and the two end surfaces of the coil with the wrapping paper, the paper has hitherto been manually folded onto the end surfaces from place to place and set rings have been fitted onto the folded end surfaces. However, the folding work performed in the above manner has required considerable skill and much time must be spent to complete the wrapping of the coil with the wrapping sheet material.
Wrapping machines for wrapping large rolls of paper and other paper products with a wrapping paper or the like are commercially available on the market. Also, a number of patents for such devices, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,368,213, and 4,281,500 have been issued for such devices. However, no practical wrapping machine for completely covering a large heavy coil of a long continuous steel strip with a wrapping sheet material, such as paper or the like, has hitherto been available to the iron and steel industry.